Piccolo Birrificio Chiostro

Brewed by Piccolo Birrificio
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Apricale (IM), Italy

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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Murky, casi opaque amber ale with a super thick off white head. Very pleasant aroma of orange peels, coriander, bready and fruity notes. In mouth, good malty beer with herbal spices, yeast, mineral notes, sustained bitterness. This is going into Orval territory! BB 30/04/08. Bieropholie import.

750 ml bottle shared with Lubiere (merci!), served cool in a tulip glass. BB 30 Apr 2008.

App.: Dirty orange-amber, muddy/murky, fair off-white meringue. Aroma: Lots of yeast and dough, wonderful perfumey citrus and fruits (mainly apricots), a few light green herbals, some faint brown sugar. Palate: Medium body, big effervescence (large, round bubbles, a few sharp ones). Flav.: Lots of dough and yeast, herbal and citrusy like a Saison, somewhat fruity; lightly off-dry, fairly bitter (for the style), light brown sugar, a bit floral and perfumey.

Beguiling, lovely and interesting. Viva Italia!

Aroma:fruity citrus nose... Apppearance:hazy-orange-gold mega huge head... Flavor:fruity citrus flavor,taste like a saison...

750ml bottle, ultra cloudy orange-amber hue, with a frothy white head, leaving a curtain of laces, yeasty, belgian-like fruity nose of citrusy, apricots, Granny Smith apples, with a nice flowery hop leafiness and faint grassiness, here the absinth is undetectable in the aroma follows through on medium-bodied palate with a yeasty, herbal, floral hop grassiness and leafiness, with a bitter cloverleaf accent, a subtle fruity, lime note, leading towards a hop dry, bitterness finish. The absinth taste was unperceptible, if i compare from the last time i sampled an absinth beer, who was la neivaine from DDC

Now that’s an original one. Excellent belgianesque white foam brushes the top of the opaque sunshine golden hue. Absinth and hop combination make for a very unique aroma scope. Pleasantly leafy and even more herbal. Original, floral. Some sips feel like a saison, yeasty, tart, others feels quite bitter and very spicy. Not overly bitter, the absinth remains mostly an aromatic addition. Better attenuated than most as well. This is dry and peppery. A good blend in spite of the globally subtle maltiness. Fully carbonated, refreshing and clean.

In short: A full bodied highly drinkable fruity (bananas) and herbal ale.
How: Sampled at Montreal’s Flaveurs, Bières and Caprice Festival 2007.
The look: Cloudy yellow-orange body with a medium beige head.
In long: Dried bananas and fresh bananas meet wild reed and some other dry plant in a yeasty and creamy body. Nicely hopped with a light lemony and acidic flavour. Tickling carbonation. Light spiciness impression. The finish is dry and combined with its lemony/acidic/tickling character I just kept going back for more. This is a beer that can definitely be enjoyed in large quantities. One of the best Italian beer I’ve ever had. Original and highly drinkable, I would have never thought this was an Italian beer, although with a name like Piccolo Birrificio Chiostro I kind of suspected it was.

My Bottom Line:
Herbal hops develop spicy and citrusy melodies to soothe the banana-like fruity sweetness of this highly characterful and quenching ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A sizeable head of foam protects the cloudy hay.
-The absinth used is cloaked in hoppiness, so either there isn’t enough absinth used to stand out or the chosen hop varieties are a perfect fit. I’d say both!
-The active effervescence and frolicking fruitiness evoke a Belgian-style personality.
-The finish herbal hop bitterness could very well include some absinth, but it’s not clear. This bitterness is well levelled though.

Bottle at the Flaveurs Bières et Caprices festival.

Orangey, hazy beer with a small but firm head. Hops, and a good lot of them, less, but present is a vegetable aroma, but after some time ureum comes up. Hoppy taste, and hopoil. To me, the absint is absent (wondering if that’s a good thing); there are, however, hints at honey. Bit burning MF (not too bad), hopoil gives viscous effect. Well, the absint isn’t there, but the beer is good, no discussion.